I have been up with Basil during the night. Poor Basil had an upset stomach (diarrhea) he is so tired out now bless him..... 
Basil actually does have a lot of health problems and a complicated medical history and he is only 2 years 10 months old. Basil needs two hip replacements and the first in line will be the left side which gives him the most trouble, both ball and sockets on each hip are deformed and separated the only thing that is holding the ball and socket together are sinews and ligaments. Its a lot like hip dysplasia but in Basil's case its more of a deformity. At the present time we do not have to over exercise Basil, difficult to keep exercise to a minimum as he is a Border Collie and full of energy! Basil also has to have a daily joint supplement and painkiller. When things become really difficult with his hips he will be referred to an Animal Specialist who specialise in this kind of surgery. This surgery is going to be very costly between four and five thousand pounds per hip. We do have a pet insurance which we started when he was a puppy, and that will help someway with the cost but we will have to find extra funds as the insurance will not cover the whole cost. This type of condition is not picked up when the dog is a young pup it begins to show signs later on. I believe Basil was about a year old when he began to limp and become stiff when getting up. So we are busy saving the pennies....... And Basil is of course worth EVERY penny!!
To add to his health problems last September Basil stomach troubles began. He picked up a parasite that made him ill and he developed sickness and diarrhea. The vet said the parasite was to be found in puppy stools. Basil must have picked it whilst on a walk and the owner of the puppy had failed to pick up after their puppy had been to the loo.. a pet hate of mine!! I cannot understand why people do not pick up after their dogs, its such an easy thing to do!! Once the parasite was treated and Basil began to get better he went down with yet another stomach upset. After a faeces test it was found that Basil had developed Campylobacter bacteria in his gut. Now to cut a very long story short. Basil has been treated for Campylobacter many times, with animal antibiotics, human antibiotics and had to have numerous faeces tests. Basil then developed Salmonella which he developed via the Campylobacter, this resulted in many more tests and of course had to be reported to Defra (think that's how you say it) Finally the Salmonella cleared up and the Campylobacter returned, more faeces tests and medications and finally after nearly twelve months of all of this it appears that finally the Campylobacter has gone (or waiting in the wings?) Due to all of this gut abuse Basil may have IBS but has yet this has not been confirmed. Basil is now intolerant to his pain killer which he has to have at all costs for his hips else he would be in agony! So at the moment Basil each day has to eat only chicken and rice with a scoop of Pro-Fibre in each meal. Before Basil eats his meals he has to have a medicine syringe of Antepsin which is the only thing that allows Basil to keep on taking his daily painkiller.Antepsin is a suspension to treat inflammation of the stomach. I have been advised by the vet to slowly wean Basil off the chicken and rice and replace it with an holistic sensitive stomach dry food which I have been doing and up until today I had Basil eating half the recommended dry food and half the chicken and rice and it was going really well. Then in the night the upset stomach began and I am now back to square one. Its not looking particularly good as it looks as if he is now rejecting the new dried food and I think another visit to our vet is required. Not sure what course of action will be taken now or what the outlook is for Basil but I suspect that IBS is now possible but we shall have to wait and see. No matter what the prognosis is I know we love Basil dearly and we will do whatever it takes ......
Basil's daily medications........ 
8 comments:
Oh...poor poor Basil.... :-(
He looks SUCH a lovely dog! So lively and happy! I had a collie a long time ago...he was just like Basil....
I DO sympathise Jane....he must be in such discomfort, which only you can allieviate... :-(
I hope a visit to the Vets can improve his meds so he feels better..
PLEASE...give him a BIG hug from me...and I hope he feels better soonest...
Oh Jane - thank goodness Basil has you both, and OH has you. My dog Tess had costly surgery on her spine July, nearly 4 thousand pound worth at The Willows, Shirley, Solihull. Excellent etc. Then we moved and her new vet told me about another excellent animal hospital that is about one third less expensive. She has hip dysphasia so may have to have further surgery. Let me know if you would like to know more. I'm sure your readers will all be with you in cyberspirit when they learn what you are going through. liZZie x & gentle hug for Basil
compostwoman, thank you so much for the lovely comment. I gave Basil a cuddle from you and he really appreciated it.. it was just what he needed after such an unpleasant day!
I do hope the vet can get to the bottom of his stomach problems, he has to put up with so much it breaks my heart. Love Jane xxx
liZZie thank you for your comments. I will be getting in touch with you regarding the Animal Specialist. We have been recommended to The Willows at Solihull but I would be very interested in the other excellent Animal Hospital which is less expensive, its going to be difficult enough raising the extra funds so to find somewhere less expensive would be brilliant.. thank you so much.
Basil appreciated the gentle hug!!
Love Jane xxx
I was so sorry to read about Basil and your OH when I popped online this morning. What a time you've had recently with all this medical stuff. I do hope your hubby is on the mend.
Basil just looks the sweetest, gentlest dog in the world .. give him a snuggle from me and tell him there are lots of bloggers wishing him well and hoping he's not too tired after his stomach upset. He's so lucky to have you to take care of him and he's so brave in coping with his problems. I only wish I could come over and sit with him a while to give you a little break! Never mind .. here's a 'virtual' cup of tea & slice of lemon cake for you!
Love & hugs to you all!
Willow xxx
Poor, poor Basil and poor you. He is so lucky to have you to look after him. Hope things improve
Kimx
Basil is a cutey
willow, thank you for your kind comment. OH is feeling ok and we think the cardioversion may have worked. We will know more after he has had his ECG and consultation with the heart specialist on Monday.
Basil is still poorly at the moment but after talking to the vet we have decided on a course of action with Basils diet and the introduction of a multivitamin and we will see how things go.
Basil enjoyed your snuggle and it made him feel a little better.
I really enjoyed the tea and lemon cake (my favourite!)Thank you!! Love Jane xxx
ragged roses, thank you for your good wishes, its very much appreciated!! Love Jane xxx
slice of life... Thank you for your comment... Basil is most certainly a cutey.... just loves people and makes such a fuss of any visitors we have.... Love Jane xxx
Hi Jane,
I too have a border collie called Bella. And funnily enough I saw your collection of drugs for Basil and it sent a chill up my spine. You see Bella began to show signs of arthritis (she is 11yrs old) so I took her to the vets who promptly decided that she must go on to Previcox for the rest of her life (!). I thought this quite a rash decision, but decided to trust the judgment of the vet. Anyway, the following year was a nightmare, she was constantly having tummy upsets and diarrhea and I was always at the vets buying more and more remedies (including antibiotics, antiseptin, expensive veterinary dry foods etc).
I took her to another vet for a second opinion and he said maybe the tablets are too strong and to reduce the dosage, her bloods were all fine so that was okay. So I tried the lower dosage of the Privicox and still no change. I didn't know what to do as I felt stopping giving her the Privicox would cause her pain, but giving it to her was causing these problems. She was not herself and was slow to chase the ball on our walks and seemed down and sluggish all the time (totally not like a collie!).
Enough is enough I thought! I took her off the Previcox and took her off the dry foods, put her back on her 2 tins of Pedigree chum (with no mixer) a day and gave her a denta stick for her teeth clean each day.
The results were astounding! After a week or so the limping had gone so she had learned to live without the Privicox and use her leg normally without it. Her stools were solid again and her brightness and zest for life were back again!!
I had forgotten how fast she could run and was resigned to the fact that old age was getting to her, but here was my bouncing baby dog back again!
I strongly recommend a second opinion from another vet. I feel my vet was trying to make money out of me and I could have easily had poor Bella on UNnecessary tablets for the rest of her life. I also found that, as healthy as the dry food is supposed to be for them, something about the flavouring or something in all the dry foods I trid, including mixers, just didn't agree with Bella's tummy and she is much more settled on the wet tinned food.
Be very careful with the Privicox, I would never use it again.
I hope you and Basil find this comment helpful. Do let me know how you get on ( louise@pekuliar.com )
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